way out of the Afterlife to face earthbound adventure with cute orphan A nne-Marie as he seeks revenge on his double-crossing buddy. ()ccasiorially sloppy animation is more than made up for by the inventive story-line and an allusive sense ofhumour that should even have adults suppressing the odd guffaw. (‘ilasgovvz ('annon'l'he Forge. ( )deon. Salon. lzdinburgh: Dominion. ()deori. (‘eiitralz Allanpark. (‘aledoniarr Regal. Strathclyde: Kclburne. ()deon Ayr. ()deori Hamilton. l.'(‘f (‘lydebank. l'('l Iiast Kilbride. WMR Film (‘entrc.

I Altered Statest lb’) ( Ken Russell. KS. 1980) William Hurt. Blair Brown. Bob Balaban. llll mins. Hurt made his film debut in this conflict-ridden production from a disowncd Paddy ( 'hay efsky script about an inquisitive scientist dabbling in things best left alone. An interesting jumble of mind-bending special effects and ludicrous narrative developments as Hurt regresses to an ape-like state under the influence of his dangerously self-destructive experiments. ()uitc conventional by Riissell‘s standards Fdinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Angel Hearti 18) (Alan Parker. LS. 1987) Mickey Rourke. Robert de Niro. ('harlotte Rampling. 113 mins. Scruffy. unshaven private eye Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis (’yphre to track down a missing l-‘orties crooner who has reneged on a life-or-death deal. llis investigations lead him to a seedy New Orleans dominated by voodoo cults and extremely dead bodies in this uncomfortable mating of visceral gore and inoodyfi'lm noir. with some ingenious if nasty twists in the plot. (ilasgow: (irosverior.

I Asterix and The Big Fight ( t .' ) ( Keith lngham. L'K. l989) With the voices of Bill ()ddic. Michael lilphick. Andrew Sachs. 82 mins. Asterix celebrates his thirtieth anniversary with this new animated feature in which he and his band ofplucky (iallic mates take on the might ofthe Roman army. Glasgow: (il’l'. (‘entralz MacRobert Arts ('entre. Strathclyde: L'(‘l Fast Kilbride.

I Asterix in Britain ( t: i ( Pino \"an Larnsweerde. France. 1986) With the voices ofJack Beaber. Bill Kearns. (iraham Bushnell. 89 mins. The Romans have invaded Britain and only one village refuses to surrender. Their chief sends a message to his distant cousin Asterix the (iaul. who rushes to the rescue with his

r M. ,:l_.l ACity OfSadness (15) (Hou Hsaio-hsien, Taiwan, 1989) Tony Leung, Hsin Shu-Fen, Chen Sown-Yung, Kao Jai. 158 mins. Ayear afterTiananmen Square, and the abrupt curtailment of the Beijing fifth-generation film-makers, their contemporary and peer, Chinese-born director Hou Hsiao-hsien, can still produce work from the relative safety of Taiwan. Even so, in its portrayal of the post-war history of the island, A City of Sadness has had its problems with authority, where alter almost half a century martial law was finally lifted only three years ago. The aboliton of history is once again the issue.

The troubled transition from Japanese occupation to Kuomintang oppression provides the film‘s historical context. Four brothers, the Lin family, are the central figures—one is deaf, another traumatised by war, a third is never seen, missing in action. The eldest, the likeable, bear-like figure of Lin Wen-heung (Chen Sown-Yung), battles to maintain the family's integrity in Taiwan‘s gangster economy — itself a focus of resistance to foreign domination.

Hou’s limpid camerawork follows the details of the action, of birth and death, marriage and vendetta, with the same simplicity and restraint that characterised his earlier masterpiece

A CITY OF SADNESS

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A Time to Live and a Time to Die. Through all its subtleties, as the position of the Taiwanese becomes more and more desperate, Hou never loses sight of the humanity of his people, their willingness to participate in their own lives and deaths. The broad sweep of the film canvas is exploited in all its accumulative power, creating an imagery that is permanently magnetic and quite literally spell-binding.

Deaf-mute Lin Wen-ching (Tony Leung) is the silent witness to the spiral of oppression, of arrest and detention, by the Chinese: Taiwan’s early hopefulness is rendered desolate aherthe1947 killings, which rage threateningly outside the camera’s eye. Wen-ching’s own disappearance as the Kuomingtang are defeated on the mainland is an ironic counterpoint to the Taiwanese national aspiration — Taipei becomes the new capital of a government-in-exile, where only the insane Lin Wen-leung can survive.

Winner of Iastyear’s Golden Lion in Venice, Hou is rapidly consolidating his impact as a major international director. His mastery of his form is complete, and unmatched in the West: his is a genuinely poetic deliberation of peoples and their land. Maybe now they’ll show his movies at home. (Andrew Pulver)

sizeable colleague ()belix and a bottle of secret potion. Along the way. he acquires a bag of special herbs said to have remarkable rcvivilying powers and this ‘tea' proves immensely popular with the Brits. (ilasgow; (ii-'1'.

I Asterix the Gaul ( t7 ) (France. l‘)(i7)(i5 mins. The early adventures of the plucky little warrior who wreaks havoc among the occupying Roman troops. aided by his plump pal ()belix. the druid (ietafix and his amazing magic potions. Izdinburgh: Filmhouse.

I Back To The Future Part 2 (PG ) ( Robert Zemeckis. (IS. 1989) Michael J. Fox. (‘hristopher Lloyd. Thomas F. Wilson. 108 mins. Finishing with a bigtease sequence of highlights for the mid- 1990 scheduled Back 10 {/ff’ I-‘urure Par! 3. this could be the longest movie trailer in Hollywood history. ()nce again Michael has to outlox Biff. this time zooming forwards as well as backwards in the time machine. Directed and played with terrific verve. 13TH? moves so fast from one set-piece to the next that there‘s no time to

I Bad Taste ( 18) ( Peter Jackson. New Zealand. 1983-7) Peter Jackson. Mike Minnett. Terry Potter. 93 mins. Painstakingly assembled by Jackson every weekend over a four year period; he and the cast bad day jobs during the week. Rarely has intergalctic carnage been presented with such charm and humour. (ilasgow: (ii-'1‘.

Tl lW()Kl effects for the fight sequences. and the fact that there is indeed atgaspl) plot is one thing it has over the dar ker. more expensive l9t<9incairiatiori I lidinburgh: Filmhouse. ! I The Bear ( P(i ) (Jean-Jacques Amiaud. France. 1988) Bart. Dotice. Jack Wallace. Tchcky Karyo. 98 mins. Simple.

tinsentiiiiental narrative tollowsthe experiences of two bears. a bigadiilt kodiak and a young orphan cub. as they are pursued by two hunters. ( ‘levei'ly filmed to capture the bears acting naturally. this insightful record of their point ofvicw makes a moving plea for the decent treatment of all animals and is highly entertaining as it gocsabcut it. Edinburgh: l‘flfllllt‘ll'sc‘. (‘eiitral .‘vlacRobert Arts ( ‘ciitre.